My main goal* was to build an investment and cash portfolio of $1,120,000* in 1500 days**, starting from 1/1/2013 and ending in February of 2017. I made my goal in 2016, my 1500 Days are over, and I’ve left my job. In the interest of openness, I’ll continue to share my numbers.
My Favorite Employees
In my last post, I broke down how my portfolio had performed since I started this blog about 66 months ago. In case you didn’t see it (and because I’m lazy and have no issue with repurposing old material for filler), here it is:
When I started this blog on January 1st of 2013, our investment portfolio was worth $586,043. 66 months later, it’s worth $1,634,242 for a gain of $1,048,199. That breaks down to increases of $15,881 per month. But not so fast:
- $100,000 of this gain is due to a house sale that we put into the markets.
- Another $150,000 of gains is due to 401(k) contributions.
- A little more (somewhere south of $50,000) is due to after-tax investments.
After subtracting these contributions, my portfolio appreciated by about $11,336 per month or $136,032 per year.
That is nothing to sneeze at. And the amazing thing is this:
I’m just getting started.
I’ve only been investing for two decades. At 44, I have about five more decades to live. Two decades ago, I started at -$60,000 (college loan and credit card debt). Now, I’m starting with a portfolio of $1,634,242.
When Mrs. 1500 quits her job, we’ll have to use some of this money to live on, but not much. We can get by on $40,000 per year. With all of our travel, fancy beer and other silly hobbies, round it up to $50,000 per year. But wait; in 9 years our home will be paid off, so our annual expenses will decrease by $14,000. We also have $400,000 in home equity.
No big deal. We’ll be fine.
Why am I telling you all of this? The meaning of the story is this:
It’s far better to let your dollars work for you than to work for dollars. Dollars are my favorite employees.
Let’s look into the crystal ball and make some predictions about how quickly my portfolio will grow. If it grows at 7% every year, it will double every 10 years:
- Optimistic view: With dividend reinvestment and continuing contributions in the near term, I expect it to double quicker.
- Pessimistic view: We will have to start drawing our nest egg down when Mrs. 1500 leaves work. Also, the markets currently sit at lofty valuations.
I’m going to be conservative here and assume doubling every 10 years. The first number is my age:
- 44 (now): $1,600,000
- 54: $3,200,000
- 64: $6,400,000
- 74: $12,800,000
- 84: $25,600,000
- 94: $51,200,000
$51,000,000!!!
That’s a lot of money! And lots of money can cause problems that only the very rich have to worry about…
Mrs. 1500’s Next Husband
I hope Mrs. 1500 doesn’t die first. If she does and my mind turns to mush, am I at risk of one of these situations?:
Yech.
Not good.
Did that guy die happy? Did she?
Maybe the opposite will happen? I’ll kick off early and Mrs. 1500 will hook up with someone 45 years younger. Mrs. 1500, if this happens, have a good time!!!
Our money has done amazing things, but the best days are ahead, gold diggers aside.
June Performance Update
June was another solid month. Our net worth started the month at $2,129,970 and ended at $2,149,222 for a gain of $19,252:
2018 (as of 7/1/2018)
- Days elapsed: 182
- Investment portfolio gains: $106,521 (including 401(k) contributions**** of $23,289)
- Net worth gains: $156,521 (investment portfolio gain of $106,521 + home appreciation of $50,000)
Since the start (1/1/2013)
- Days elapsed: 2006
- Investment portfolio and cash: $1,634,242
- Gains since 1/1/2013: $1,048,179
- Needed to quit work ($1,120,000 in investments): Mission accomplished!
Net worth: $2,149,242. This includes:
- Investment portfolio and cash: $1,634,242
- Home equity: $450,000
- Silly toy car: $45,000
- Other cars, bikes, dinosaurs: $20,000
Portfolio Breakdown
We have a diverse portfolio that includes real estate:
- mobile home park (elevated home park to the easily offended)
- private loan (only one outstanding)
- syndication deals
And stock market holdings:
- individual stocks (old thinking)
- index funds (most money goes here now)
Here is the breakdown:
- Stock market: $878,978
- Monthly gain: $16,735
- 2018 gain: $89,192
- Real estate: $735,264
- Monthly gain: $2,537
- 2018 gain: $17,349
- Cash reserve: $20,000
The market side of my portfolio is demolishing the real estate side. I diversified into real estate because of lofty market valuations. Since I started implementing this plan almost 2 years ago, the markets have rocketed upwards. The real estate investments make money every month, but the gains are slow:
- Trailer park: We knew this needed a lot of work going into it. We’re putting all money back into the park. So, we’ve earned $0.
- Syndication deals: All of these deals are making money, but the initial payments are small. They increase as the properties are rehabbed and rents are increased. The big payout comes in 5-10 years when the property is sold.
- Private loans: We only have one loan outstanding now. We may hunt for more. Need money? You better have a good plan, but I’ll hear your pitch!
Life Is Good
I have no clue if I’ll end up with a fortune of $51,000,000. It doesn’t matter that much either as I’m happy now with my lot in life. I have a good family, good friends and everything else is pretty good too. We just got back from a huge trip where we frolicked near the ocean:
And in the mountains:
While the traveling is fun, the best part of having money is that it frees you from having to worry or even think much about money. I don’t have to be concerned about feeding my family if I get fired. I don’t have to worry if I’ll lose the house if I can’t make ends meet. I don’t worry about a major home repair setting back our finances for 6 months. All of these concerns are now background noise.
Meanwhile, those dollars continue to work hard. At the end of most months, there are more dollars than when the month started. They’re like rabbits. Or maybe even Tribbles.
Life is good.
*My goal wasn’t to have $1,120,000 at the end of 1500 days, but at any time before the day count was up. Why? It all goes back to the 4% Rule. Remember that our little friend, Mr. 4%, is nothing more than the most conservative safe withdrawal rate. So, if I were to quit my job now, I could spend about $60,000 in my first year of retirement.
**My original goal was $1,000,000 and no debt, I later raised the goal by $120,000 to $1,120,000 because I will have debt in the form of a mortgage and I firmly believe in not paying it off. My compromise is to have enough money put away to cover the mortgage at the time of retirement. So, to retire today, I would need about $1,120,000.
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****My 401(k) contributions include my own, Mrs. 15oo’s, and the contributions from my corporation. Self-employment with a solo 401(k) is a very powerful savings tool. I should have done this years ago.
Join the 10s who have signed up already!
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*Only if your life is pretty bad to begin with.
freddy smidlap says
here comes some doom and gloom. what happens when we get committed to the booby hatch (loony bin)? both wives will be living large with minions of dollars hard at work. in reality i was just saying the same thing yesterday that if i went to work tomorrow and they padlocked the gate and put up a sign “closed for business” everything would still be fine. it’s a good feeling.
freddy smidlap recently posted…How to Rock Travel In Oregon Wine Country
Mr. 1500 Days says
Haha! If I’m committed, I hope they pump me full of happy pills! None of that One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest or Clockwork Orange stuff!
Not having to worry about money is incredible. I come from a place of deep financial insecurity. It’s only been fairly recent that my nightmares about being broke stopped.
MarciaB @ baggypop.com says
The nightmares about being broke (aka: ending up a bag lady/dude) would make a very interesting series of posts. I think it’s a very commonly shared anxiety.
MarciaB @ baggypop.com recently posted…Really? This Is What You’re Going To Do With Your One Precious Life?
Mr. 1500 Days says
Hmmmm, maybe I’ll write more about it. Easier to do now that it’s in the past. Thank you for the tip Marcia!
Gwen @ Fiery Millennials says
So you saw some wonders of the US while experiencing the wonders of compound interest. I love compound interest. Even with me not putting another dime into my accounts, I’ll be at $1.5 mil by 60. Them there dollars are working way harder than I can manage!
Adam says
Playing around with compound interest calculators got me on the FI high in the first place. Now we’re in a situation to yours — if we don’t contribute another cent, chances are we’ll have $1.4m-$1.8m at traditional retirement age. It’s sobering for how many people DON’T take advantage of it! I wish the revelation had hit me in my teens instead of my 30s.
Ms. Frugal Asian Finance says
Those are interesting scenarios hehe. Mr. FAF is 5 years older than me, so he’s always worried that he will die before me. That motivates him to work out daily (i.e. running 12k on the treadmill every morning). I guess fear is not bad if it motivates you to do positive things 😀
Mr. 1500 Days says
Running 12 kilometers every day? Holy cow. Mr. FAF is an inspiration. Very cool!
Young FIRE Knight says
$51M is quite a bit of money! Could partially invest in a business to actually bring back real dinosaurs with that kind of money 😉
It does bring up a great point that sometimes we actually work a couple years too long in search of financial security when really we could walk away from our jobs earlier. A lot of people who do that will end up dying with way more money than they actually needed!
Mr. 1500 Days says
Good point about sticking around too long. I definitely did that.
And dinosaurs! Do you have any DNA embedded in amber handy? 🙂
Tara says
Is your wife planning to quit soon? I imagine your health insurance expenses will be quite high if she quits—just wondering what you plan to do in that situation. That is why if I could work remotely part time for family health insurance in lieu of any salary, I would jump at it. It would be wonderful if that were not an issue for any of us…
Mr. 1500 Days says
We’ll go on Liberty HealthShare. Last time I checked, it will set us back around $500/month. $6,000/year is nothing to sneeze at, but it won’t kill us either.
And I agree, health care is a huge issue. I think the ‘states are headed to single payer which will certainly shake things up.
wendy says
It’s important that the health care doesn’t kill you.
Mr. 1500 Days says
Haha, sad but true.
John says
As long as you understand that is NOT health insurance. It does not have any of the protections of the ACA, i.e. pre existing conditions, no caps, etc. definitely very risky. One person in your family has a serious health issue and it could bankrupt you.
Mr. 1500 Days says
Yep, there are definitely caveats. It looks like the maximum per incident is $125,000. While I know how messed up health care is in the United States, something would have to go pretty wrong to cost more than $125,000. And who knows, we may be on the ACA or whatever form it takes at the time.
One thing that I’m very thankful for is that our family is healthy. None of us have any chronic conditions. Life is good.
Mr. Tako says
Tribbles indeed. Your tech stocks are doing really well! Congrats!
Mr. Tako recently posted…What’s The Deal With Negative Shareholder Equity?
Owen @ PlanEasy.ca says
“Dollars are my favorite employees.”
They truly are good little workers 🙂 So diligent and hard working. Never any complaints. Tireless.
Owen @ PlanEasy.ca recently posted…How To Immunize Yourself From Rising Interest Rates
Mr. 1500 Days says
Yep! Those dollars ask nothing of me except for patience! It’s really incredible.
MrWow says
I love my little green worker bees!!
Get back to work damn it!!
But yes, that weight is lifted. You don’t have to worry about much any more. Crazy huh? What a weird fun thing!!
Mr. 1500 Days says
It is crazy, especially coming from a place of financial insecurity. No more nightmares about going broke! Woot!
Chris says
I too suffer from unfounded financial insecurity. For you did it your fears go away after you left your job, or a specific NW #. I’m not quite ready yet to pull the trigger, however I feel like when I am, I still my struggle to leave and have indefinite omy syndrome.
Team CF says
Life seems to be good indeed. But please, not more scary photos of old man with attractive woman 😉
When do you expect the trailer park (elevated home park) to start making you some money, and how much?
Mrs. LSF says
Inspiring 🙂
Mr. 1500 Days says
Thanks!
Wade says
Hopefully Facebook can bounce back. Rough day on 7/26 for one of the FAANGs. Ouch.
Mr. 1500 Days says
I know, right? Craziness…